NSA director: Programs disrupted dozens of attacks

Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., center, speaks to reporters as he arrives for a closed all-member briefing on the NSA on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

By CONNIE CASS and KIMBERLY DOZIER - Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The director of the National Security Agency says surveillance programs have disrupted or helped disrupt dozens of terrorist attacks.

NSA director Keith Alexander defended the programs at a Senate hearing on Wednesday.

Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont says some details of two cases have been declassified. He pressed Alexander for numbers on other incidents.

Leahy says the intelligence community believes that these surveillance programs are critical, but he adds that he thinks they should not be made permanent and that Congress should be able to review and debate them periodically.

A former contractor, Edward Snowden, leaked information on the programs last week.